Cordless Lawn Mower Experience / Recommendations

ploploplop · 26-06-2020 9:00pm #1

Have a tiny lawn, probably 7m x 7m.

Looking for a lawnmower with the following:
- cordless
- compact when stored away
- roller (so I can have fun with stripes)

I don't mind the charge time or run time for the battery, as the lawn is so small.
I don't mind the cutting width either, so even 30cm would be fine.
Not looking for a mulcher, or a large grass cuttings box.

Want to avoid Petrol, and Corded.

Have a hand push mower, with a grass collector, but grass clippings fly everywhere, which comes into the house on children's feet. Hence the desire to have something that successfully collects the grass.

Open to feedback on corded, but happy to spend an additional €100 / €150 for cordless.

Was surprised that I couldn't find much on boards, so thought I'd start a new thread. Surely there's someone else out there with a small garden and a cordless lawn mower?

phormium · 26-06-2020 10:19pm

I've had cordless lawn mowers for years, never looked for strips so don't know if that's a thing with any of them.

I had a Flymo years ago, Rotak since (it's still going strong and I gave it away to a family member) and presently using last years purchase from Aldi . Perfectly good machine although to be honest I preferred the Rotak as it was a bit smaller and better with a shaped lawn. Aldi one is good but slightly bigger and doesn't corner as easily, I have round lawns but if you had straight lines it would be fine.

Aldi/Lidl have both had them already this year I think and there is plenty in Argos catalogue too, I picked up the Rotak half price in a B&Q autumn sale years ago when nobody here was buying battery mowers but they are a bit more popular now so maybe that good a deal won't be repeated! The original Flymo battery one was like a toy it was so light and I had to order from UK but that must be about 30 yrs ago now. It lasted for years with one battery change.

PS I feel there is a long thread on this here somewhere as I have posted before unless maybe that was on another forum

ploploplop · 29-06-2020 8:25pm

Cheers phormium.

Will look more into the Rotak - initial thoughts are that they are crazy expensive.

And yes, apologies, I spotted the lawn mower thread after I had posted. I had used the search, but got very few relevant results back. Turns out that the google search is a way better search tool for searching boards!

At the moment, I'm looking at Flymo EasiStore 300R Li https://www.flymo.com/uk/product/lawn-mowers/easistore-300r-li/967987701.html, which is €270.00 with Argos https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4162449/Trail/searchtext%3EFLYMO.htm. I don't think I can wait for a summer sale to get a cheaper price - the thought of doing some 15-20 more cuts until Sept is killing me (tidying up all the grass cuttings that flew everywhere is a nightmare!). Good name, looks compact when stored, and has the real roller I'm looking for.

Some other options:
- McGregor Cordless 32cm 21.6V: https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2654904/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CLawnmowers%7C14418813/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418813%7CRotary+mowers%7C14418816.htm for €150.00.

- WORX WG927E Cordless 34cm Mower & Trimmer Kit - 2 Batteries https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7928879/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CLawnmowers%7C14418813/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418813%7CRotary+mowers%7C14418816.htm €210.00

- Bosch CityMower 34cm 4.0Ah Cordless Lawnmower https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3103681/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CLawnmowers%7C14418813/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418813%7CRotary+mowers%7C14418816.htm €320.00

- Spear & Jackson S2434CR 34cm Cordless Rotary Lawnmower
https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7596696/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CGarden+and+DIY%7C14418702/c_2/3%7C19285823%7CLawnmowers%7C14418813/c_3/4%7Ccat_14418813%7CRotary+mowers%7C14418816.htm €180.00

Will look for reviews on the above...

Discodog · 29-06-2020 9:03pm

I got a Gardenline 36v from Aldi as an experiment - I am normally using Honda petrol mowers. It's a brilliant machine & I use it all the time but it doesn't have a rear roller.

Bosch are highly rated.

phormium · 29-06-2020 9:12pm

Pretty sure the Aldi one I have 40v as I remember at the time I had terrible trouble getting the battery for it, shop full of 20v batteries and no 40 even though the lawnmower needed one. Eventually found one smart shop manager who had stashed away batteries to match the mowers he had on sale in the shop.

I happened to be in Coop Superstore place in Raheen, Limerick today and they had a fine looking cordless on sale at 299, although probably better suited to bigger garden as it was a much bigger looking machine than any I have owned.

It's a pity you missed out on the Aldi/Lidl varieties but of course I doubt they had that stripes business

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 9:53am

OP a roller on a rotary mower that "roughs up the grass" before cutting it doesn't have anything like the same effect as the roller on a cylinder mower which lines up the grass first with the front roller then when cut and finally with the rear roller.

Discodog · 30-06-2020 5:37pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

OP a roller on a rotary mower that "roughs up the grass" before cutting it doesn't have anything like the same effect as the roller on a cylinder mower which lines up the grass first with the front roller then when cut and finally with the rear roller.

What mower has a roller on the front ? It would be totally counterproductive.

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 5:48pm

Discodog wrote: »

What mower has a roller on the front ? It would be totally counterproductive.

Its a common feature.

See if you can spot it

from https://www.allett.co.uk/homeowner-mower-range/

Discodog · 30-06-2020 6:21pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

Its a common feature.

See if you can spot it

from https://www.allett.co.uk/homeowner-mower-range/

That is a cylinder mower, totally different to a rotary mower & for a different purpose. I use mowers daily so I really do know quite a lot about them :rolleyes:

PS Cylinder mowers are far from common

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 6:49pm

Discodog wrote: »

That is a cylinder mower, totally different to a rotary mower & for a different purpose. I use mowers daily so I really do know quite a lot about them :rolleyes:

PS Cylinder mowers are far from common

It would be easier if next time read the post before making an irrelevant comment.

Discodog · 30-06-2020 7:12pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

Its a common feature.

See if you can spot it

from https://www.allett.co.uk/homeowner-mower-range/

Now's that's irrelevant & patronising

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 7:23pm

I bought my mum the 40V one from Aldi and she is very happy with it, 90 min charge time and does her front and back twice on a single charge.
Very light to push and lift and folds away tidily. The grass collection box is small (as is the mower itself) but its so quick and easy to use that she now cuts the grass more often compared to the big deal of struggling to get her old B&S petrol one to start and dicking around with petrol, oil, plugs etc.

One minor annoyance is that you cant just leave the battery on charge, you have to turn it off when done manually, but no biggie, she just leaves it in the mower most of the time.

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 7:28pm

The front roller on a cylinder mower exists to balance the machine while its in user, something has to keep the cutting edge off the grass other than the user holding it up!
This has the downside of flattening down the grass so you can end up with long, wiry grass growing horizontally and never being cut. To help alleviate this you will often see a ribbed roller, as in the Allet example, however the better models have a comb attachment between the front roller and the cutting reel to lift up the grass and allow it to be cut.

On very short grass the rollers dont cause an issue as its unusual for the grass to get long enough to really bend over (such as golf greens and tee boxes which are cut daily during growing seasons) however in your common back garden scenario, where you will have both a mixture of grass types and often infrequent mowing, its a potential issue.

joeysoap · 30-06-2020 7:37pm

I bough a Spear and Jackson one from Argos before the lockdown to replace a petrol one, 40v battery does the front and back lawns. Charge it -1 hour- after using and it ready for the next time. It automatically goes ‘ faster’ for long grass. Huge grass box. Easy to assemble. 3 year warranty and it has stripes.
pleased with it so far. The handle folds as far as I know.

ploploplop · 30-06-2020 7:59pm

The Spear & Jackson is an interesting one for sure, and it's very well priced. Thanks for the feedback.

I'll have to have another look at the Aldi / Lidl offerings - have bought stuff before, and the quality tends to be a tad shy of what I want (in my experience). Another concern would be battery replacements years down the line, although I understand the companies involved are fairly decent sizeable companies in their own right.

Regarding the roller, for clarity I'm just looking for a simple rear roller for those stripes. Not sure how effective it might be on my lawn, but a bit of fun anyway.

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 8:10pm

ploploplop wrote: »

The Spear & Jackson is an interesting one for sure, and it's very well priced. Thanks for the feedback.

I'll have to have another look at the Aldi / Lidl offerings - have bought stuff before, and the quality tends to be a tad shy of what I want (in my experience). Another concern would be battery replacements years down the line, although I understand the companies involved are fairly decent sizeable companies in their own right.

Regarding the roller, for clarity I'm just looking for a simple rear roller for those stripes. Not sure how effective it might be on my lawn, but a bit of fun anyway.

It gives you stripes but nothing like the same quality that you seen on TY sports for football, tennis, golf etc. from cylinder mowing. I've chased that dream with a rotary after years of using cylinder mowers and there is no comparison.

ploploplop · 30-06-2020 8:19pm

Understood - my expectations are set very low on the potential stripe effect.

phormium · 30-06-2020 8:27pm

If you are near a B&Q I saw a couple of nice ones in there today, one was absolutely dinky, very small, would be very easy to store, MacAllister brand, larger one was 253, think the smaller was 150, cute little yoke

Discodog · 30-06-2020 8:30pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

It gives you stripes but nothing like the same quality that you seen on TY sports for football, tennis, golf etc. from cylinder mowing. I've chased that dream with a rotary after years of using cylinder mowers and there is no comparison.

Totally disagree. I use a 21 in Honda Professional Rotary Roller & it irons the grass especially as it weighs 60 kilos. My neighbour has a Mountfield Rotary Roller & his stripes are perfect.

I haven't used the Spear & Jackson but the Bosch stripes well especially if you always mow the same way. Apart from striping the other advantage is that a roller will overhang flowerbeds rather than falling in.

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 8:43pm

The longer you cut your grass the easier it is to stripe.
If you are cutting it 25mm + then any old rotary with even s flap on the back will result in stripes, you don't even need a roller!

Discodog · 30-06-2020 8:51pm

GreeBo wrote: »

The longer you cut your grass the easier it is to stripe.
If you are cutting it 25mm + then any old rotary with even s flap on the back will result in stripes, you don't even need a roller!

My Honda Izy has a striping flap that works. I have seen people use a piece of carpet

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 8:57pm

Discodog wrote: »

My Honda Izy has a striping flap that works. I have seen people use a piece of carpet

I got excitable one evening and bashed a suitable length of lead pipe to fit onto the flap, was working great until I forgot about it and reversed...cue some loud bangs and several hours spent collecting shards of lead from the grass!

GinSoaked · 30-06-2020 9:16pm

Looks good but still less than half the job you get with a cylinder mower.

I used to cut from 4 different directions and on the 4th cut 3-4 weeks later you could still see the striping from the first.

In a lot of cases with a rotary mower you get a shaded stripe from one side to the other because the rotary blade pushes the grass forward on the left and backwards on the right and the roller accentuates the stripe on the right where the grass is already lined up in that direction.

Discodog · 30-06-2020 9:28pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

Looks good but still less than half the job you get with a cylinder mower.

I used to cut from 4 different directions and on the 4th cut 3-4 weeks later you could still see the striping from the first.

In a lot of cases with a rotary mower you get a shaded stripe from one side to the other because the rotary blade pushes the grass forward on the left and backwards on the right and the roller accentuates the stripe on the right where the grass is already lined up in that direction.

99% of people couldn't tell the difference.

GreeBo · 30-06-2020 9:29pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

Looks good but still less than half the job you get with a cylinder mower.

I used to cut from 4 different directions and on the 4th cut 3-4 weeks later you could still see the striping from the first.

In a lot of cases with a rotary mower you get a shaded stripe from one side to the other because the rotary blade pushes the grass forward on the left and backwards on the right and the roller accentuates the stripe on the right where the grass is already lined up in that direction.

Lol
Less than half the job? How does one go about measuring the quality of stripes?
Oh and they are full 22" wide stripes, created by the stripe flap lying the grass down and yes I have also created tartan and diamonds with the same mower.
Again, it's down to the height of grass, nothing more.

Discodog · 30-06-2020 9:42pm

GreeBo wrote: »

I got excitable one evening and bashed a suitable length of lead pipe to fit onto the flap, was working great until I forgot about it and reversed...cue some loud bangs and several hours spent collecting shards of lead from the grass!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004ZKXYUO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Yn6-EbEQR9DQR

joeysoap · 01-07-2020 1:03am

I think spear and Jackson are Argos own brand

Discodog · 01-07-2020 8:36am

joeysoap wrote: »

I think spear and Jackson are Argos own brand

I don't think so as their tools are sold by lots of retailers. Their hand tools are good quality but I have no experience with their mowers.

ploploplop · 01-07-2020 9:21pm

Think I'll get the Flymo EasiStore 300R Li which is €270.00 with Argos https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/...37;3EFLYMO.htm.

I discounted the McGregor and the Spear & Jackson as they don't appear to be compact enough for me when folded down (I'm seriously limited on space).

Still toying with WORX WG927E Cordless 34cm Mower & Trimmer Kit - 2 Batteries https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/...7C14418816.htm €210.00, but I have a cordless trimmer already, and although this mower does appear to get quite compact, it's not as compact as the Flymo EasiStore.

€270 is at the very top end of what I was hoping to spend though... will give it another couple of days thought.

Note: the EasiStore is a different machine to the Mighty-Mo, in case anyone is doing their own research and getting confused!

Discodog · 01-07-2020 9:38pm

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082BRZL6L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bpp.EbHDQMHGN

Good reviews

GreeBo · 01-07-2020 10:54pm

I thought i saw a pretty compact one in b&q last week for 150, think it was a Bosch rotak?

joeysoap · 01-07-2020 11:38pm

A review from the €220 S & J one on Argos suggests it folds easily.

30 June 2020
Easy to assemble. very well designed.
By tony from west london
Overall Rating5 of 55StarsExcellent
Recommend to a friend? Yes
" The mower was well packed with full instructions. the charger and battery were easy to use and fitted to their slots with not difficulty. it was a pleasure not having a mains cable to manipulate. Collapsing the handles was simple and gave more storage in my shed. "

phormium · 02-07-2020 5:46pm

GreeBo wrote: »

I thought i saw a pretty compact one in b&q last week for 150, think it was a Bosch rotak?

I was there a couple of days ago and the 150 one is a Macallister, very compact neat model. Bosch Rotak are way more expensive than that and a bit bigger, the electric Rotak is around that price I think but not the cordless one.

GreeBo · 02-07-2020 6:03pm

phormium wrote: »

I was there a couple of days ago and the 150 one is a Macallister, very compact neat model. Bosch Rotak are way more expensive than that and a bit bigger, the electric Rotak is around that price I think but not the cordless one.

Yeah I only saw it in passing so could be 100% wrong but I thought I saw a special on the Rotak.

ploploplop · 02-08-2020 7:59am

Thanks for all the comments.

Just an update, I waited and got the Flymo Easistore 300 Li from Argos - it went from €270 to €280 last week, then dropped to €180 for this week only (website says off is valid until tomorrow 03/08/2020).

Happy with it so far:
- Easy to assemble (just follow instructions)
- Cordless
- Very light but sturdy
- Very compact, folds away in a couple of ways
- Has a roller (for fun, not for professional Wembley style stripes!)

Can't comment on batteries just yet - takes 3 hours to charge, and meant to give 35 mins run time (my lawn took 10 mins).

The larger 340 size has a grass full indicator, and also a single lever to raise the cut (small bit tricky with the 300, but won't be changing levels that often anyway).

And the cut is good. Now I need to hope that it's a reliable piece of kit and lasts a few years.

ploploplop · 09-04-2022 10:16am

So to circle back on this 1.5 years later...

The Flymo Easistore 300 Li lawnmower has been great - nice cut, and nice and compact for storage.

BUT now one of the batteries has failed and I cannot get a replacement ANYWHERE! Flymo are absolutely no help - they haven't responded to an online request so far, phone ringing out, but I'll try again next week - from what I've seen online they haven't been helpful at all to others who queried about replacement batteries. Bought the lawnmower in Argos but they only cover the product/battery for one year, as do Flymo. So now I'm with a lawnmower that is fit for the skip, and need to spend again to get a new lawnmower.

I was well aware of looking after the batteries carefully - kept them indoors the whole time, and the weather has been so good I've been cutting regularly throughout the autumn and winter, maybe at least every 6 weeks. But last week the lawnmower wouldn't start, and low and behold, one of the two batteries won't charge.

The batteries is a 20V Li-ion battery - 967913201 (someone else on boards suggested that this is the same as Husqvarna 591088401). I can see it one this website https://www.wolfswinkel.shop/spare-parts-flymo/967913201/flymo-accu-c-li-20v but they're not responding to calls or emails, and the recent reviews are poor. Besides, they've a bug on their website so it's not possible to complete a purchase. Very suspect.

Half tempted to try and "jump" the batteries based on some youtube videos out there - looks very risky - I'd happily spend €50-€100 for a replacement battery, if only they were stocked somewhere.

Throwing this comment up on boards in case anyone can help in any way!

fryup · 09-04-2022 6:02pm

you'll find replacement batteries very hard to come by, because they're classed as 'hazardous' many UK & European sellers will not ship to Ireland to joe public - - go back to the shop where you got the flymo and asked them could they order a replacement battery for you

phormium · 09-04-2022 7:14pm

Gosh that's very annoying! I've had my Bosch one for years and still going strong. I had a Flymo before that for maybe 15 yrs and replaced battery once but of course as we all know they don't make them to last anymore!

ploploplop · 13-04-2022 8:46pm

Another update - success! Flymo have responded and are kindly sending out a replacement battery. Such a relief considering I couldn't find one anywhere and I had read numerous complaints online about the challenges of getting a replacement.

Just a word of warning for others who are getting cordless tools, it's definitely worth purchasing an extra one whilst you can and continually using all your batteries.

Cordless Lawn Mower Experience / Recommendations

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